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Tag: EPA

Upon laying a strong foundation in respect to what type of nonsense takes place unabated in our food with Aspartame, let us now move forward and dig deeper into it’s respective cousin – Neotame.

In similar fashion to Aspartame, Neotame, which is a chemical derivative of the prior, incorporates components that are metabolized into formaldehyde, a highly noxious poison, and an excitotoxic amino acid that agitates thereby damaging, nerves.

Keep in mind, aspartame currently accounts for over 75% of all side effects complaints received by the FDA’s Adverse Reaction Monitoring System [ARMS] for the past 4 years. A Monsanto-created chemical, Neotame has nigh the same composition, and in fact could be far worse.

Once their patent for Aspartame was expiring, Monsanto opted to develop Neotame and therein had no trouble gaining approval in 2002 from the FDA.

It is theorized that the artificial sweetener Neotame is between 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar, and 30-60 times sweeter than aspartame. This would thus allow manufacturers to use an infinitesimal amount of this substance within their product.

Due to the fact that the FDA requires no labels whatsoever of ingredients which contributes less than 1% of their product, in some instances the neurotoxin Neotame can be used in foods without therein having to be subsequently listedon the lable. Also, Neotame is surreptitiously concealed within the questionable “natural flavors” section on some packaged foods.

This highly concentrated, white crystalline powder contains the same synthetic derivative of the two amino acids as aspartame – L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine – plus the chemical methanol, or wood alcohol. To this compound 3-dimethylbutyl has been added. NutraSweet Company states that neotame is perfectly safe, yet 3-dimethylbutyl happens to be on the Environmental Protection Agency’s [EPA] most hazardous chemical list.

In a letter written to the FDA in March 3, 1998, Dr. Robert – who is a physician & director of the Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research – stated the following:

It is my professional opinion that this chemical poses a potential major health and environmental hazard to the American public — particularly in the absence of extensive, detailed and long term animal and human studies [which I have been unable to obtain] that could prove its safety to my satisfaction. I am a Board-certified internist, and have been the unsalaried director of the Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research [not-for-profit] since 1964.

This opinion is based on more than a decade of intense, corporate-neutral clinical and epidemiological research concerning the widespread serious medical problems directly attributable to products containing aspartame [NutraSweet, Equal]. My own database currently exceeds 1,150 reactors. I have documented these reactions in more than a score of published articles and letters, and three books.

The fundamental issue is that Neotame, a synthetic variation of aspartame, requires extensive evaluation before the FDA should accept a superficial opinion about its purported safety based largely on limited short-term data involving potentially flawed protocols that were almost totally funded by corporate contracts. [For perspective, I have not received a cent of industry money for my researches.] This matter is discussed at length in my publications relative to both animal and human studies.

The timing and self-serving corporate interests of this petition are suggested by the fact that the patent off aspartame expired several years ago.

The approval of any analog of aspartame for human use MUST be challenged. In my opinion, there is already sufficient evidence for aspartame products to be withdrawn from the market as an “imminent public health hazard” NOW! I have documented severe neurological, intellectual, psychiatric, metabolic, endocrine, allergic and other reactions to aspartame products in hundreds of patients. Moreover, there is considerable reason to invoke aspartame and its metabolites as a cause of significant contributory factor in the aggravation of precipitation of diabetes and its complications, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer [see enclosed peer-reviewed article], and the acceleration of Alzheimer’s disease [refer to my book ‘DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE’]. I summarized these perceived hazards in previous correspondence to Representative Newt Gingrich [copy enclosed] requesting a new Congressional hearing on the safety of aspartame products.”

Two years before the FDA approved neotame, the Monsanto Co. sold the NutraSweet Co. to J.W. Childs Equity Partners II, L.P., a private equity firm that also own the Sunny Delight Beverage Co. and Mattress Firm, among other companies. At the time of this purchase, NutraSweet issued a press release bragging about how neotame would drastically change the sweetener industry, even though it had not yet been approved for use.

Commenting on the company’s plans for neotame, Nick E. Rosa, a former senior vice president at Monsanto who was given the position of president and CEO of NutraSweet at the time the company transferred ownership to J.W. Childs, had this to say:

“The NutraSweet Company revolutionized the sweetener industry in 1981 with the introduction of aspartame, and we intend to do it again with neotame when we receive approval from various regulatory agencies around the world.”

Just as predicted, NutraSweet strong-armed FDA approval for neotame in the U.S. in 2002, and quickly expanded approval to at least 69 other countries in the following decade. But the company presumably still has a lot of work to do if it hopes to bring neotame to the same level as aspartame, which is sold in more than 100 countries and used in more than 5,000 consumers products used by 250 million people worldwide.

Both Aspartame and Neotame contain substances that are metabolized into formaldehyde, a highly toxic poison, and an excitotoxic amino acid that agitates, thereby damaging, nerves.

At the time Neotame was originally approved by the FDA, Feingold.org, which battles the addition of many dodgy food additives, stated:

We did a search of MedLine to find studies of adverse effects or side effects of Neotame. Only four studies appeared, two of which were not studies, and the other two of which were actually a single study done by NutraSweet company researchers.

Feingold aptly described one of the nonstudies as effectively saying, “If we don’t look, we won’t know anything bad.” The other, by the World Health Organization, is not a look at potential toxicity, but rather is about setting acceptable daily intakes of Neotame, along with other artificial sweeteners. Note: One must wonder how the FDA justifies non-listing of an ingredient for which there’s an acceptable daily intake.

Mary Nash Stoddard, founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, compared the historic arc of tobacco company research with that of Aspartame. It applies equally well to Neotame:

There is a parallel issue with which to compare the Aspartame issue. That of cigarettes and the deadly effects of smoking. The massive Tobacco Industry was able to produce large volumes of scientific studies showing smoking “does not” cause: lung cancer, heart disease, strokes or death. Today, mainstream science accepts the fact that smoking can be deadly and addictive. So it is with Aspartame & Neotame, whose approval was based, not on scientific fact, but as an issue of public policy.

So what are possible alternatives?

Stevia is an herb that has been used as a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years. It is calorie–free, and the powdered concentrate is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is widely used all over the world. In Japan, for example, it claims 41% of the sweetener market, including sugar, and was used in Japanese Diet Coke until the company replaced it with aspartame to “standardize” worldwide.

Another possibility is Palm Sugar. Palm sugar is a nutrient-rich, low-glycemic crystalline sweetener that looks, tastes, dissolves and melts almost exactly like sugar, but it’s completely natural and unrefined. It’s acquired from the flowers growing high on coconut trees, which are opened to collect their liquid flower nectar. This nectar is then air-dried to form a crystalline sugar that’s naturally brown in color and naturally rich in a number of key vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including potassium, zinc, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6.

It is never refined or bleached like white sugar. So the nutrients it was made with are still there. That’s rare for sweeteners, most of which are highly refined. Even stevia is highly refined in its white powder form [real stevia is a green herb].

Lastly there is Xylitol, which has been shown to have many health benefits, yet few know of its healing power to prevent ear infections in children. It inhibits bacterial growth thus helping to avoid the use of dangerous antibiotics.

Xylitol is a natural low-calorie, low-glycemic sugar substitute produced from the fibers of fruits, vegetables, and trees such as plums, raspberries, corn, and birch. Xylitol is as sweet as sugar and can be used safely by diabetics. As xylitol is a mild sugar alcohol, excessive consumption over 30 grams per day can cause a temporary laxative effect that disappears with continued use as the body adapts. It is also important to find a source of xylitol that is GMO free if made from corn.

The best way to avoid illnesses is by avoiding the products that cause them. After many years of researching Aspartame, its more than obvious that this is one of the main engines of disease in the products which harbor it.

After a step back when one takes a focused look into the subject at hand, one comes to realize that the evidence is undeniable.

Definitely implore you to take a gander, and really understand the gravity of the situation. Your health and that of your loved ones depends on it.